Modern skis have sharp tips at their forward ends which can inflict injuries on skiers when fallen upon or when skiers are hit by runaway skis.
Prior devices have been proposed to provide protective means for skis to prevent marring of their surfaces as well as to reduce injuries resulting from collisions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,469 to Hooker provides a protective strip of strong, resilient material bonded to the top edge corners of skis to prevent chipping and burring of those edges. This strip provides little or no protection against injury inflicted by the ski tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,216 to Wehr discloses a safety head to be fastened to the front end of a ski and thereby enclose the ski tip. However, the device includes a metal cap which reduces its effectiveness. Furthermore, the bulbous shape of the Wehr device hinders the flow of the ski through snow, particularly deep powder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,572 to May, Jr., provides a ski tip attachment in the form of a sleeve which fits over a ski tip and has a means for mounting a light source so as to extend beyond the ski tip. The purpose of this device is to provide illumination in front of a skier, not cushioning for the ski tip. The light fixture itself presents a hazard to skiers in the event they are struck by the ski.
None of the devices of the prior art provide a simple protective means for the forward tip of the ski which provides adequate protection against injury while not interfering with the operation of the ski.